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Altering the fate of stem cells from midgut of Heliothis virescens: the effect of calcium ions
Author(s) -
Loeb Marcia J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
archives of insect biochemistry and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.576
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1520-6327
pISSN - 0739-4462
DOI - 10.1002/arch.20060
Subject(s) - midgut , biology , calcium , stem cell , ionophore , microbiology and biotechnology , cellular differentiation , egta , in vitro , biochemistry , biophysics , larva , botany , medicine , membrane , gene
Cultured stem cells from larval midgut tissue of the lepidopteran Heliothis virescens respond to alterations in external calcium ion concentration (Ca 2+ out ) by changing the rate of stem cell proliferation and by differentiating to larval or non‐larval phenotypes. Decreasing the external concentration of Ca 2+ with the Ca 2+ chelating agent EGTA increased proliferation of stem cells in culture, and doubled the proportion of cells differentiating to columnar and goblet cells typical of larval midgut compared to controls. In contrast, increasing inward transport of Ca 2+ into the cells by increasing the concentration of external calcium ion concentration, or by incubation with the Ca 2+ ionophore A23187 (which tends to open inward plasma membrane Ca 2+ channels), induced dose‐dependent differentiation to non‐midgut cell types such as squamous and scale‐like cells. However, the latter treatments did not significantly alter stem cell proliferation or differentiation to normal larval midgut epithelium. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 59:202–210, 2005. Published 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.